The Navy has awarded a $271.2 million contract for the second phase of construction on Pier 1 at Naval Station Newport, Sen. Jack Reed announced Tuesday, clearing the way for four Coast Guard cutters to make Newport their homeport.
The original pier at Coddington Cove, built in the mid-1950s, ran 1,585 feet and was condemned after decades of storm and wave damage. It has already been demolished in the project’s first phase.
The replacement will be shorter and wider — roughly 1,000 feet by 80 feet — with a higher deck elevation intended to reduce wave damage and account for sea level rise. The work also includes a new bulkhead, a laydown area, parking, stormwater management and utilities.
“It will transform the pier from an aging, high-maintenance structure into a resilient, efficient, multi-functional waterfront hub that can serve for generations to come,” Reed said.
When finished, the pier will provide four berths for major cutters — vessels several hundred feet long. Which cutters will come to Newport has not been announced. Five Coast Guard cutters are currently homeported at the station: the buoy tenders Oak and Sycamore and the medium endurance cutters Legare, Campbell and Tahoma.
Construction and cutter deliveries are scheduled to continue through 2030.
The pier work is part of a larger federal buildup on the Newport waterfront. NOAA is finishing a $147 million Marine Operations Center-Atlantic on a five-acre site at Coddington Cove, relocated from Norfolk, Virginia, after a decade-long effort by Reed. That facility will coordinate NOAA’s Atlantic and Great Lakes fleet and homeport four research vessels, with a pier, floating dock and offices. Ground was broken in May 2024, and the project was projected for completion in summer 2027. Roughly 60 people worked at the Norfolk office, with more assigned to ships.
Together, the two projects are expected to bring hundreds of federal employees, military personnel, family members and support staff to the area. The Defense Department’s Community Cooperation program has funded outreach and planning work with Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth to prepare.
